NHL parlay picks Mar. 2: Bet on Penguins to beat Flames
Two moneyline underdogs and a favourite find their way onto this NHL parlay.
The pregame narrative: I'm taking the value with the underdog New York Rangers against the Toronto Maple Leafs. Similarly, I like the Pittsburgh Penguins at plus-money odds versus the Calgary Flames. Thirdly, I'm picking the Tampa Bay Lightning as home favourites against the Montreal Canadiens.
NHL oddsas of 2:01 p.m. on 03/02/2024.
NHL parlay picks
Parlay: Rangers moneyline + Penguins moneyline + Lightning moneyline (+480)
Rangers moneyline (+105): Getting a team that has won 11 of its last 12 games at this price is difficult to ignore.
The Rangers are one of the NHL's hottest squads and haven't been underdogs since Jan. 20 when they visited the Los Angeles Kings.
The goaltending mismatch only adds to the value. Igor Shesterkin battles Ilya Samsonov and the former has been much better than the latter lately.
Shesterkin went 7-0 in February with a .953 save percentage. Samsonov had a 6-2 record but that was due to goal support. He had an .888 save percentage during the month.
New York's road record (19-10-3) is actually better than Toronto's home record (16-11-2).
Other parlay picks
Penguins moneyline (+105): Pittsburgh is another underdog I'm happy to back on this slate.
The Penguins are fighting for their playoff lives. Their play has largely matched their urgency lately with wins in three of their last four contests. They sit seven points back of the third spot in the Metropolitan Division but have a hearty four games in hand on the Philadelphia Flyers.
Calgary is also pushing for a playoff spot and has won four consecutive games. It sits seven points out of the postseason but only holds two games in hand on the Nashville Predators for the second wild card spot.
Pittsburgh has a pretty significant edge over Calgary in team save percentage. The Pens rank fourth in the category (.910) compared to the Flames' 14th-placed ranking (.898).
Lightning moneyline (-265): Tampa Bay is a very good home team and should handle business against a poor Montreal squad.
The Lightning are a dominant 18-8-4 at Amalie Arena compared to a brutal 14-16-2 record as visitors. They've won eight of their last 10 on home ice and should add to that string of success on Saturday.
The Canadiens aren't playing for anything and it shows. They've dropped six of their last seven games and eight of their last 10.
Poor defence continues to plague the Habs as they own the third-worst expected goals against mark (3.44) in the NHL, according to Natural Stat Trick.
That won't play well against the Bolts, who rank seventh in goals per game (3.35) this year.
